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Herman von Klempt
Herman von Klempt is a fictional character created by Mike Mignola. Von Klempt is a Nazi 'mad scientist' who has worked on numerous schemes to control or destroy the world. Though his body was destroyed, von Klempt survived as a head in a Jar, often assisted in his work by mechanical apes. Nazi Projects Near the end of the second World War, faced with possible defeat, a frantic Adolf Hitler launched what the Allies called 'The Doomsday Projects'. Among these was Project Vampir Sturm (1944, proposed by Heinrich Himmler); Project Ragna Rok (The Fatal Destiny), which resulted in the appearance of Hellboy in a church in East Bromwich, England (December 23, 1944); and, lastly, the Nazi Space Program. The Nazi Space Program in Hunte Castle Dr. Ernst Oeming was a German Physicist often referred to as the "Nazi Einstein." He was assassinated on January 1, 1939 when his car exploded, destroying most of his body. The Gestapo moved what was left of Oeming's body to Hunte Castle in Austria where Nazi scientists, among them Herman Von Klempt, had managed to communicate with "living beings in space." The Nazis immediately began preparing Oeming's body to be launched into space to provide a host body for the space creatures. On the night of March 20, 1939, the date Oeming's body was to be launched, the American hero Lobster Johnson led a group of American troops in an attack on Hunte Castle. In a state of panic, the Nazis launched Oeming's ship before the roof's doors could open. Although the rocket cleared the castle and made it into space, the explosion resulted in the immediate incineration of everyone inside the castle save one man: Herman von Klempt. ''B.P.R.D.: 1946'' Although most of his body was destroyed, his head was kept alive in a jar. Von Klempt created what he called 'kriegaffe' (German for 'war ape', though ' 'K'rieg's'''affe is more correct), a sort of Frankenstein's monster-like ape, to do most of the work he could no longer perform himself. At some point he had a Swastika tattooed to his forehead. When Nazi Germany fell to the Allies, von Klempt retreated to a secret base hidden under Berlin. Taking the vampires from Project Vampir Sturm, von Klempt hopped to destroy America with a plague of vampires. In 1946 Trevor Bruttenholm and the B.P.R.D. discovered his lair (as seen in ''B.P.R.D. 1946 #4-5). Von Klempt quickly launched a rocket full of vampires at America before Bruttenholm could stop him. With some help Bruttenholm was able to destroy the rocket taking with it the vampires and von Kelmpt. Though Bruttenholm though von Kelmpt had been destroyed, he would resurface some 13 years latter. Brazil Experiments At some point, von Klempt retreated to a base in the jungle near Macapa, Brazil, where he began working on other projects. It was there in 1959 that he was confronted by Hellboy, who was investigating the disappearance of peasant girls in the area (as seen in World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator (CBG)). In the fight that ensued, Hellboy defeated von Klempt and his ape, whom von Klempt called "Brutus". Von Klempt's inert head would not be seen for decades. ''Hellboy: Wake the Devil Herman von Klempt's old friend and colleague, Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, had placed himself in Suspended animation with Ilsa Haupstein and Leopold Kurtz, two other members of the Ragna Rok Project. Asleep in a Norwegian castle, they were awoken in 1994 and Kroenen sent Roderick Zinco, a follower of the deceased Grigori Rasputin (Hellboy), to Brazil to retrieve von Klempt. Although Kroenen was easily able to revive von Klempt, the head's private ambitions clashed with the religious zeal of Rasputin's followers leading to Kroenen's murder of Kurtz. Furious at von Klempt and Kroenen, Rasputin's ghost blinded Zinco, who accidentally set off an explosion that destroyed the castle. ''Hellboy: Conqueror Worm Luckily surviving the castle's detonation, von Klempt retreated to a secret laboratory under a graveyard in Germany. There he began work on Kriegaffe #10 along with various other projects when he was suddenly stricken with despair over the seeming endless failure and lack of purpose his life had become. In this moment of weakness, he was contacted by the ghost of Grigori Rasputin (Hellboy). Rasputin, mistakenly believed by von Klempt to be the Angel of Death, showed the Nazi scientist the destruction that would result from releasing the worm they had planted within Oeming's body. Once the world had been overtaken, the Ogdru Hem would be released from their prisons, and they would, in turn, release the Ogdru Jahad, who will reduce the world to ashes. Von Klempt, finally given purpose - to watch the destruction of the world - returned after sixty years to Hunte Castle. Von Klempt succeeded in drawing Oeming's capsule back to Earth. A gigantic creature called 'The Conqueror Worm' surged forth from the capsule. Spewing forth a noxious gas, the worm turned von Klempt's human agents into frog-men, then devoured them immediately to feed its insatiable hunger. Only quick intervention by Hellboy and Roger (Hellboy), aided by the ghost of Lobster Johnson, managed to halt the worm's march. Von Klempt was pulled off of a cliff by Roger; the madman's jar was smashed and his life came to an end. Other appearances • Herman von Klempt's head came with the Kriegaffe #10 Action figure released in 2005 by Mezco Toyz. A Variant of von Klempt's head (with the Nazi swastika on his forehead) was released with a limited-edition Hellboy figure.http://mezco.net/products.asp?pline=hbc2005 • Herman von Klempt and several of his Kriegaffen are featured in the upcoming Hellboy video game, where the Nazi head-in-a-jar will act as the game's primary villain. • A head in a jar that may or may not have been Von Klempt was seen amongst the collection of Nazi Supervillain memorabilia in Mr. Pope's office in the B.P.R.D. storyline The Black Flame.